You know, as far as All Whites squads go this is a fairly experienced one right here. Nobody with 50 caps or whatever but most of them have been around a while and there’s plenty of top level club footy represented too. Well, except for in the midfield but we’ll come to that. This is roughly as good as we’d have hoped for.

Not that this team will be able to go back to back over America and Mexico, two of the finer international teams out there. In fact it may still get ugly score-wise, though getting a run against opposition of this level is what we wanna see. It was either that or another away trip to Uzbekistan. This seems pretty decent.

Both games will be played in America in the October international window, beginning with Mexico in Tennessee’s Nissan Stadium – home of the Tennessee Titans, which also hosts Beyonce six days before the All Whites take the park – on October 9, NZ time. Three days later they’re in Washington to meet the so-called US Men’s National Team (yuck) at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, a regular home for the USA footy sides and a former home for Ryan Nelsen when he played for DC United. We’ve been frustrated in the past at the lack of decent fixtures and maybe they’re trying to run before they can walk here but it sure beats twiddling thumbs in the NZF headquarters.

And yeah, it’s a sexy looking squad. Winston Reid is in there, as is Chris Wood. Jake Gleeson gets a highly deserved recall. There are the usual stalwarts of the Hudson era and there are a few of the right kind of up and comers (i.e. not too many amateur jokers). So let’s take a look at it, position by position.

GOALKEEPERS

• Stefan Marinovic (SpVgg Unterhaching, Germany) 8 caps, 0 goals
• Tamati Williams (RKC Waalwijk, Netherlands) 1, 0
• Jake Gleeson (Portland Timbers FC, USA) 8, 0

Nobody deserves their call-up more than Jake Gleeson who is making a significant name for himself in the MLS these days, making save after shot-stopping save. He’s been picked before by Hudson though the 26 year old hasn’t appeared since the China/Thailand games in November 2014. To be fair, the reason he wasn’t there for the Nations Cup was probably more to do with the opportunity he’d just been given to start for the Timbers after years on the bench or with the reserves – a career making chance that didn’t make sense to risk when we had other goalies capable of doing what was needed in the ONC. Now that starting role in Portland is on lock, with his predecessor transferred away a couple months back and with these games in America, it scripts a perfect return for him.

What’ll be curious is whether he starts ahead of Marinovic, who was flawless at the Nations Cup and has emerged as our clear number one in Gleeson’s absence. Gleeson plays at a higher level but both are easily trustworthy. Maybe they split duties. Either way, we always seem to have two quality keepers when the All Whites are at their best. Good signs.

Tamati Williams is therefore just experienced cover. He’s played at Club World Cups, he’s playing regular second division in Holland at the moment and he’s a part-time model so that’s gotta be good for team morale. Glen Moss is the major exclusion but a perfectly fair one given that his place in this squad is nowhere near as necessary as his place in the Wellington Phoenix squad and the Nix have already been ravaged with four kiwis travelling to the USA instead of playing in the A-League opener.

With a new excuse for his absence every squad though, we might have seen the last of Mossy’s international career what with the competition for places in this spot meaning you miss a few games and you fall way back on the list. All goods though, he’s always been a champ and will continue to be one for the Welly Nix. Max Crocombe would have been another option, the understudy to Mari at the ONC. He’s currently sitting on the bench most weeks for League Two Carlisle United though, who don’t get an international break – Williams is more match fit. Also Michael Woud will be one for the future but he’s not there yet.

DEFENDERS

• Andrew Durante (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand) 9, 0
• Sam Brotherton (Wisconsin University, USA) 6, 0
• Michael Boxall (SuperSport Utd, South Africa) 17, 0
• Kip Colvey (San Jose Earthquakes FC, USA) 4, 0
• Themi Tzimopoulos (PAS Giannina FC, Greece) 6, 1
• Winston Reid (West Ham Utd FC, England) 19, 1
• Deklan Wynne (Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Canada) 3, 0
• Liam Graham (Chesterfield FC, England) 0, 0

Several talking points here. First off, lovely to see Winston in there even if his current form has been patchy at best. He’s always been keen for international duty when he can manage it – although don’t rule out a niggling injury in the next week yet. Then we have Andrew Durante returning to the national team after coming out of retirement. The door was never fully closed to him and it sounds like Hudson always wanted him around. A good off-season without having to sweat his way around Papua New Guinea probably did him good and for the first time in a while the Phoenix have signed a top standard centre back in Marco Rossi which makes his absence there a little more bearable. Bloody good news really.

There had been talk about Tommy Smith returning to the team, which would have been interesting to say the least because of the firm face-slapping Hudson gave him last time. But Smith’s been in contact with Huddo and apparently it was a chance to happen. Funny that Smith wasn’t as interested in playing for NZ while he was a regular for Ipswich and when he lost his place in the first XI to start this season he was suddenly keen to come back. As it happened, Smith did earn his way back into the Ipswich XI only to then injure his back and be ruled out for a few months, sparing Hudson the decision – which he says will be made for the benefit of the team. Which most likely means recalling the experienced Championship defender. As far as the footy side of things go, the All White are a better team with Smith involved. No complaints if it happens – but there could be some awkward situations arising from that if/when it does.

When you look at this list of defenders without Smith and ignoring Durante, you see why both are still important. It’s Winston and then daylight as far as the veterans go. Themi and Boxall then add at least some established faces to the mix but the rest of them are pretty fresh. Of the two most impressive defenders at the ONC, Sam Brotherton holds his place while Luke Adams is left out. Again, this is likely a case of Brotherton’s college experience trumping Adams’ club footy in Aussie and when you’re facing the prospect of Giovani Dos Santos and Christian Pulisic, that makes perfect sense. Kip Colvey is also based in the US, though he’s been on loan away from his San Jose MLS team. He’s one who might be a bit disappointed with his performances in PNG, having had real breakout potential. Should be better for the experience though.

Most are also presuming that Hudson returns to 4-2-3-1 as opposed to the 3-5-2 he used in PNG – not holding any breath on that however. As grating as the football often was to watch in that formation, it still got RESULTS (you know, like 1-0 vs Solomon Islands, 1-0 vs Vanuatu and penalty shootout win following a 0-0 vs Papua New Guinea). Still, it did feel like a means to an end approach. Anyway, presuming he returns to four at the back then Reid and Dura should be the clear CB pairing. The fullbacks are up in the air though. Boxall makes a solid right back as he showed for the Phoenix (curious that once again he’s here and his teammate at SSU Jeremy Brockie is not – Brox was a late call up to the ONC team and Hudson really doesn’t seem to rate him). Kip Colvey also goes good at RB, even if he played on the left mostly in PNG.

You’d imagine he’s seen as a LB here though, what with both Deklan Wynne the only other player here with that option in his arsenal. Hudson always seemed to fancy Wynne, who returns now for the first time since his eligibility scandal thingamajig. Since then he’s signed in Canada for MLS's Vancouver Whitecaps and has played nine times this season for their second team in the USL – the third tier of American footy. His performances to date in the white tended to suggest ‘potential’ rather than ‘value’ so we can assume he’ll be back a better player than we last saw him.

No Tommy Doyle or Louis Fenton, both injured*. Neither are better than the fullbacks we’ve selected here. Guts for Storm Roux, who is, yet is still working his way back to 100% after that horrible injury.

*(UPDATE: Ryan Thomas was ruled out of the squad soon after being named and Fenton came in to replace him... despite apparently not being considered because of injury just days earlier. New Zealand Football, ladies and gentlemen!)

And then there’s the sole newbie in the team: Liam Graham.

AH: “We have been watching Liam for a while. He had a good pre-season and now has made his debut for the first team and played a few games. He is a good player and we are looking forward to having him with us.”

24 years old, capable of playing on both sides of defence and coming off his Football League debut for League One Chesterfield in the past week. It’s been an unconventional career path for Graham. He was born in Melbourne but played for the NZ U20s before moving to Italy where he played in the lower leagues. A trial with Chesterfield got him a contract in 2015 though he was loaned out to a non-league side in March and left out of the pre-season tour squad. But then he started appearing on the bench a few times during the season and as injuries mounted, he got his chance. Now he’s on the verge of being a full international – good thing for his kiwi mother.

Liam Graham: “I was emailed by them a while ago asking for some passport details because I might be in the squad travelling to the US. I didn’t really think much of it. I got an email on Monday morning that I’d been selected but it didn’t really sink in. I got a text on Monday night from the manager saying: ‘It’s Anthony Hudson are you free for a talk?’ He called me and said everything players want to hear. That really sunk in for me, then. It fired me up even more for Tuesday night’s game. “It’s going to be a brilliant experience.”

MIDFIELDERS

• Clayton Lewis (Auckland City FC, New Zealand) 3, 0
• Michael McGlinchey (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand) 38, 4
• Matt Ridenton (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand) 2, 0
• Te Atawhai Wihongi (Auckland City FC, New Zealand) 3, 0
• Henry Cameron (Blackpool FC, England) 1, 0
• Moses Dyer (Eastern Suburbs AFC, New Zealand) 4, 0
• Ryan Thomas (PEC Zwolle, Netherlands) 5, 0

The weak spot, let’s be honest. That’s usually the case and it’s even worse here because Bill Tuiloma is injured. There goes our one genuine holding midfielder and that opens up a serious hole. McGlinchey has been preferred as a CM too though he’s hardly gonna be bossing the field from box to box and the rest of them are all inexperienced. Like, seriously inexperienced. 18 caps between six players.

What’s worse is that three of these players, in such a crucial area, are based out of semi-pro/amateur clubs in NZ. No worries with taking the likes of Clayton Lewis and Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi along but expecting them to play against USA and Mexico is quite daunting. One option is to put Themi in the midfield. He may not have any kind of pace but he’ll crush you if you try get past him.

Nice to see Henry Cameron back after he suffered a serious knock on debut last year. The youngster’s been on the bench a couple times for Blackpool in League Two and played half an hour off the bench in the EFL Cup. He’s more of an attacking/wide player though, leaving Matt Ridenton and Moses Dyer as the other midfield options. Ridenton who has played well in rare patches for the Phoenix and often been overlooked by Hudson and Dyer who has stuck to youth internationals and NZ stuff yet is apparently one of Tony’s faves. He’s also Rory Fallon’s prayer partner. Neither is going to be able to dominate against Jermaine Jones or even Gleeson’s teammate Darlington Nagbe. This is a worry.

Ryan Thomas is made of paper skin and glass bones. He’s already twice been injured coming back from other injuries this season. When he’s there, however, he’s a talented and technically gifted mid who can play in any of a number of positions. Might even get to see him in CM for the national team here. (Or not - since he's injured and no longer travelling).

Thing is, there aren’t really any guys you can point at and say: ‘WHY ISN’T THAT AMAZING MIDFIELDER IN THERE!’ Luka Prelevic is a weird omission given how trusted he was in PNG but that trust didn’t really match up as far as the eye test went. Must be a ripper on the training paddock. Then there are players like Chris James, Dan Keat and Craig Henderson all playing in Scandinavia but Hudson doesn’t seem to have even heard of those buggers. Might pay to ask around for his number – Smithy reckons he takes calls.

FORWARDS

• Kosta Barbarouses (Wellington Phoenix, New Zealand) 33, 3
• Chris Wood (Leeds Utd, England) 42, 18
• Monty Patterson (Ipswich Town FC, England) 5, 0
• Marco Rojas (Melbourne Victory FC, Australia) 26, 1
• Rory Fallon (Truro City FC, England) 23, 6

Chris Wood is gonna destroy the scoring record for NZ. He’s gonna shatter it into pieces. If Reid is fit then Wood is the second name on the starting team sheet and after a rough start to 2016-17 he’s scored six times in his last nine games. He comes with a battle-worn deputy in Rory Fallon who is the same kinda player but slightly worse in every relevant way. Great leadership off the field though, that’s not being facetious either.

Then there is the trio of tricksters in Kosta, Marco and Monty. Plenty evidence right there in that sentence to unleash the 4-2-3-1 again. Thomas, Lewis and Cameron can also play as attacking mids so he’s picked a lot of players there to suit that (though he also has way more than three CBs so… grain of salt). Not included are Brockie, as mentioned, and also Shane Smeltz. Smeltzy might be another whose international career is more or less done. Currently playing and scoring in Asia, he’s probably happy with what he’s already achieved. He’ll be 37 at the next World Cup so that might not be something he feels he needs to stick around for – hey, been there done that. His 24 All Whites goals trail only Vaughan Coveny (28) in the records.

No Tyler Boyd, someone send that Flying Kiwis with the Boyd goal in to Huddo and see if he’s heard of him. Boyd definitely shares a few too many topless instagrams to chill with Winston and a few of them but the kid’s a talent all the same. Strange that he’s so on the outer – unless it was his call. Problem is we only have a few journos in this country out asking these questions and even when they do get beyond Tommy Smith’s eligibility, NZ Football are impossible when it comes to things like ‘communication’ anyway.

Also not picked from the ONC squad is Logan Rogerson and Alex Rufer is also sitting back with the Nix while the rest are in America. Not an issue, neither have really proven they deserve regular inclusions in this team yet. Young players still making names for themselves (well, one is anyway – the other already has a name thanks to his father and uncle). Hamish Watson isn’t there either, which is cool because who needs a worse version of a worse version of Chris Wood?

So there you go. The All Whites squad that’ll take the park against Mexico before a crowd of at least 25,000 people – that’s the number of tickets that were sold as of a week ago anyway. The ground seats close to 70,000 so expect plenty more sales now that the fans know they’ll be making the trip from Guadalajara to witness the majestic sight of Chris Wood and Winston Reid. It’ll have to be them, because Javier Hernandez, Héctor Moreno, Guillermo Uchoa, Andrés Guardado and Hector Herrera have all been left out of a largely locally-based Mexican squad. The Mexicans play Panama a few days after they play us and they meet USA a month later in World Cup qualifying so will be keeping an eye on both games.

Meanwhile America is yet to announce their squad but it’s been 14 years since they last lost at RFK Stadium. Obviously we played Mexico not that long ago, getting annihilated in World Cup qualifying last time out. America we’ve only played twice before, losing 2-1 both times. This was the first of them in 1999:

YES ZORRO! GET IN, SON!